Antonín Bennewitz (also Anton Bennewitz; 26 March 1833 – 29 May 1926) was a Bohemian violinist, conductor, and teacher. He was in a line of violinists that extended back to Giovanni Battista Viotti, and forward to Jan Kubelík and Wolfgang Schneiderhan.[1]
Life and career
He was born in Přívrat, Bohemia, as Antonín Josef Václav Benevic (his name is most often seen in the German rendering—Bennewitz) to a German father and a Czech mother. He studied under Moritz Mildner(Мильднер, Мориц) (Mořic Mildner: 1812–1865) at the Prague Conservatory from 1846 to 1852. He was subsequently engaged as first violinist at the Estates Theatre in Prague (1852–1861),[2] as well as in Salzburg and Stuttgart.
On 3 December 1855, he participated in the first performance of Bedřich Smetana's Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15, at the Prague Konvict Hall, with Smetana himself as pianist and Julius Goltermann as cellist.[3] In 1859, he performed in Paris and Brussels.[2]
In 1866, he became professor of violin in Prague.[citation needed] In 1876, he succeeded Mildner as leader of the Friedrich Pixis (Bedřich Vilém Pixis) quartet, which became known as the Bennewitz Quartet.[citation needed] He became director of the Prague Conservatory in 1882, serving until 1901, when he was succeeded by Antonín Dvořák. He was among the founders of the Kammermusikverein, whose nationalist ideals stimulated Smetana to write his String Quartet in E minor, From My Life.[4]
Program of the festive concert to the 1885 opening of the Rudolfinum in Prague, conducted by Antonín Bennewitz.
On 25 February 1895, Bennewitz conducted the first complete performance of Josef Suk's Serenade for Strings in E flat, Op. 6, with the Prague Conservatory orchestra (two movements had been heard 14 months earlier, conducted by Suk himself).[5]
^ abČernušák, Gracián; Štědroň, Bohumír; Nováček, Zdenko, eds. (1963). Československý hudební slovník I. A-L (in Czech). Prague: Státní hudební vydavatelství. p. 83.
